Getting your own back

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned according to the 17th century English playwright and poet William Congreve, and it remains as true today as it was seen when.
What do you do when love has run its course? How do you say its over? According to singer Paul Simon There must be 50 ways to leave your lover. Some years ago, fellow singer Phil Collins infamously dumped his second wife by fax. In these more technologically days the Finnish Prime minister recently broke up with his mistress by SMS. Less cowardly is the face-to-face approach (we need to talk/ this is just not working/I love you like a friend/etc.). When French woman, Sophie Calle received and email on her mobile she was devasted to discover that this was a message of adieu in which her partner claimed that: whatever happens, you must know that the break-up would hurt me more than it will hurt you. Here is a short extract whatever happens, you must know that I will never stop loving you in my own way- the way Ive loved you ever since Ive known you, which will stay part of me, and never die I wish things had turned out differently, take care of yourself With hindsight, the man almost certainly the man almost wishes he had followed his first instinct (it seems to me it would be better to say what I have to say to you face-to-face), particularly has the woman he was dumping is a conceptual artist who specializes in turning private pain into art. And that is exactly what she did with her Dear Sophie email. Too heartbroken to reply, she decided she would take car of herself by sending the mans email to 107 women (including a dancer, a poet a ballet dance, a singer, a novelist, a psychotherapist, an etiquette consultant, an editor, a policewoman, and even a schoolgirl). She asked all of them to read the email and to analyze it or interpret it according to their job while she filmed or photograph the result. The psychiatrist concluded that the man was a twisted manipulator while the etiquette consultant criticized his manners, and the editor ridiculed his grammar and syntax. The idea came to me very quickly. At first it was therapy, then art took over. After a month, I had got over him. There was no suffering. The project had replaced the man. The Resulting exhibition Prenez soin de vous was put on at the Bibliothque Nationale in Paris and was later a huge success at the Venice Biennale. After

becoming, unwillingly the notorious star of an exhibition, its a sure bet that when Sophies ex-lover dumps his girlfriends in the future he will never ever say Take care of yourself.

Perhaps, when she embarked on a relation ship with a famous composer, actress Jane Slavin was right to wonder if things were too good to be true.
Jane first posted a message on his Facebook page last July, it said, you are one of my favorite composer. He instantly replied, and within minutes he had added her to a list of cyber friends. Later he emailed her asking for a date. He invited me to a concert and I went on from there, it was an amazing adventure, she says it all seemed so magical to be with someone so hugely talented, however, three months into their relationship. He simply stopped emailing her, it went from 30 emails a day to nothing. No phone call, no texts, no emails. I thought hed died so, suddenly and inexplicably rejected. Jane returned to the internet. I put the words lovely lady into Google and downloaded a stunning looking photograph of a woman and I gave her name. Lucia. I then created a MySpace page for her, and emailed him. The email from Lucia said. I dont have any friends on MySpace. Im a great fan of your music. Will you be my friend? Y the end of the first day, he had sent her more than 100 emails. The crowning moment of her revenge came when Lucia agreed to a rendezvous in a tittle caf in London. At the appointed time Jane walked in and said, Hi, how are you? Ive not heard from you for ages, he looked horrified. He said he was meeting a new PA. I said. Do you mind if I sit down? And he said yes, I do. Shes going to be here any minute now. I said. Ill sit down for just a second. I opened my bag and pulled out copies of all his messages to Lucia, when he asked. Is she a friend of yours? I learnt across the table and whispered to him, Lucia is all Jane Lucia was my revenge, says Jane, it helped me get over him. I have to regrets

Who can forget the spectacular way in which Sarah Graham Moon took revenge on her ex-husband sir peter, the fifth baronet, the after seeing his blue BMW parked in the driveway of a 42-year-old blonde?
She promptly poured a can of withe paint aver the car- but that was only the beginning. Ten days later, she set about altering his clothes. According to sir peters own account, she cut ten centimeters off the left arm of 32 of his Savile row suits, jackets and overcoats some of which had cost him 1.000 or more. For good measure, she stamped on a box containing 25 Havana cigars, flattening the lot of them, and threw another six boxes of the Montecristo No 2s out of the window. But still lady Graham-Moon hadnt finished. A week later, she went on a bizarre milk-round, distributing 24 bottles of his finest vintage wine and port on doorsteps in the village where the woman lived. It gave me a hell of a buzz, she said.